Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Trash into Treasured Hours

Our crib was included in the recall of certain cribs purchased at Babies 'R Us last June. We used our voucher to pick up another crib, and of course I didn't want to wait until the kids were in bed to put it together (especially because it IS one of the beds). So I opened it up and tucked deep under piles and piles of styrofoam was our crib-- waiting patiently for its thousand pieces to be assembled.

The time your kids most want to help is for the project with the most pieces to lose. So how can you keep your kids happily "helping" while staying safely away from the task that needs to be done?

Yes, those are real nails, screws and screwdrivers, but not a real hammer (I'm crazy, but not that crazy)....And don't forget the eager helper!

Grab one of the styrofoam blocks/boards from the box your "assembly needed" item came in, along with the pictured items.

The rest is pretty self explanatory. The screws really will screw in and out of the styrofoam! My 3 year old enjoyed hammering the nails in the most, but my 6 year old likes using the screwdriver better.

This is a great way to teach your kids about tools. I taught my little guy that different "heads" on screws fit with different kinds of screwdrivers. He also learned the difference between a screw and a nail.

I wish I could take credit for this ready-to-go anytime project, but I heard about it when my little sister went to Marbles Kids Museum in North Carolina. It has provided us with many happy hours of "fixing stuff."

Don't have an order of styrofoam coming in anytime soon? I've seen it being discarded at JoAnn's, as well as the Home Depot. I'm sure a store would be happy to intercept it before it gets to the garbage can for you. Another way to repurpose something!